Vucic on Sapic: No Excuse, Opposition Wants Him Removed
Former Serbian president Vucic says the Belgrade mayor alone bears responsibility for the incident with a Kreni-Promeni councilwoman, as the opposition demands his removal and arrest.
Aleksandar Vucic, the former president of Serbia, head of the “United Serbia” electoral list and a member of the Presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), told Informer that there is “no excuse” for Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic over the incident with Kreni-Promeni councilwoman Tanja Micic. Opposition parties and city organizations are meanwhile demanding Sapic’s removal, and Kreni-Promeni has called a protest for 2 p.m. outside the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In short, the incident is this: Kreni-Promeni claims that on Monday evening, September 28, in New Belgrade, Sapic physically attacked Micic and broke her nose. Sapic denies hitting her and says he pushed her away to defend himself from her husband.
What did Vucic tell Informer?
Reacting to Kreni-Promeni’s allegations, Vucic said Sapic should have avoided the confrontation.
“He had to step away. He had to cross to the other side of the street,” Vucic told Informer.
He then sent Sapic, as a public official, a direct message. In his words, a mayor must not take part in a confrontation even when someone is provoking him:
“You, as a public official, cannot allow yourself, when you see that someone is provoking you and that someone wants to cause a scene, not to walk away from there. Do whatever you want, just don’t take part in it. And for that, the responsibility lies solely with Aleksandar Sapic.”
Vucic also said he spoke with Sapic last night and that, as he put it, Sapic was tested for alcohol and drugs. “He is negative for both. He was held at the police until half past five this morning, he was questioned,” Vucic said.
The accounts diverge on this point. Kreni-Promeni says Sapic was released from the station 15 minutes after the incident, while another of its statements says ten minutes. Savo Manojlovic, the movement’s president, said outside the New Belgrade Police Department in the night between Monday and Tuesday that Sapic had not been tested. The Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office says the test was carried out and that no alcohol or psychoactive substances were found.
Who is demanding Sapic’s removal?
The demands have been coming in from last night until this morning, and most come down to a session of the Belgrade City Assembly and criminal liability.
- Belgrade in Motion wants Sapic dismissed at the next session of the City Assembly and asks the competent authorities to establish his criminal liability.
- The Party of Freedom and Justice demands that the authorities remove Sapic immediately and that he be urgently prosecuted.
- Stefan Simic, a city councilor from the Free Citizens Movement, is calling for an urgent session of the City Assembly to dismiss him.
- Aleksandar Stevanovic, a councilor from Ecological Uprising, is calling on Sapic to resign.
- The Center for Local Self-Government, whose director is Nikola Jovanovic, wants his dismissal and a criminal investigation.
- The Democratic Party, through its president Srdjan Milivojevic, wants him removed and says Sapic should be “immediately placed in detention.”
Nikola Radin, executive director of Belgrade in Motion, said in a statement:
“Sapic has long lacked both the moral and the political credibility to lead Belgrade. A mayor cannot physically settle scores with his political opponents, and it is especially unacceptable for him to attack a councilwoman and a fellow citizen. After this there is not a single reason for him to remain mayor one day longer”
Simic, in a statement carried by Danas, said that “the office of mayor must not be a shield against the police, the prosecutor’s office and the law.”
The civic movement Bravo and Milos Pavlovic, head of the People’s Movement of Serbia’s councilor group in the City Assembly, condemned the attack, but in the statements cited they do not explicitly demand a resignation. Bravo called on SNS officials, above all party president Milos Vucevic and Novi Sad Mayor Zarko Micin, to speak out publicly on violence. Pavlovic said the mayor of Belgrade is not above the law and that his office does not give him the right to threaten, intimidate or settle conflicts physically.
Students in blockade posted on social media around midnight:
“You cannot turn the protection of women into a campaign slogan and measure responsibility by whose party card someone holds.”
What is Kreni-Promeni demanding today?
The movement is demanding the name of the on-duty public prosecutor who released Sapic, is announcing a criminal complaint, and is submitting a request to the Belgrade City Assembly to dismiss the mayor. The protest is set for 2 p.m. outside the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office, at 16 Boulevard Mihajla Pupina in New Belgrade. In a statement, the movement said:
“We will not give up until we learn the name of the public prosecutor who released Sapic and until justice is done.”
Outside the police station, Manojlovic said the movement would ask the prosecutor’s office to open criminal proceedings and order detention: “Tomorrow at 2 p.m. we will go in front of the Third Prosecutor’s Office at Bulevar Mihaila Pupina no. 16, where we will demand that criminal proceedings be launched against Aleksandar Sapic and that he be placed in detention.” The movement also says it will file a criminal complaint and demand that Sapic be “arrested immediately.”
Councilwoman Micic told N1: “He bloodied my nose, I feel terrible.” According to Manojlovic, she is at the surgical ward today. Kreni-Promeni published a medical report describing a fracture of the left nasal bone and part of the upper jaw, with displacement of bone fragments. The prosecutor’s office says in its statement that minor bodily injuries were found in the injured parties, and that during the night they did not respond to calls from the police and the prosecutor’s office. The office says it will announce further pre-investigation steps against Sapic after the facts are established.
Sapic’s version and the question of the session
Sapic told pro-government media, as reported by Nova.rs: “I do not want to take part in the media show that is now being staged by exactly those who have repeatedly brought people to my house.” He says he pushed the councilwoman away, while Manojlovic replies that Micic “never held any protests outside his house.”
According to the Party of Freedom and Justice, Sapic was installed as mayor by a majority led by SNS, so the outcome of the demand for a City Assembly session lies in that majority’s hands.
